2812: Q&A - What's the Difference Between Counting Macros and Calories on Tracking Nutrition

[00:00:00] It's another Q&A edition of Optimal Health Daily and I'm Dr. Neal Malik.

[00:00:04] Hey there, happy Friday and welcome to another Q&A edition of Optimal Health Daily where I answer your health questions related to fitness, diet and nutrition and lots more.

[00:00:13] You send me the questions and I answer them for you.

[00:00:16] Remember, I want this to be a space where I can bust myths for you.

[00:00:20] I want you to be able to ask me questions about maybe things you have heard that I can hopefully tell you the truth about.

[00:00:25] And as often as possible, I rely on the most recent research data to back up what I'm saying.

[00:00:32] And when I don't, I usually preface everything with, in my opinion.

[00:00:37] So again, I want this to be a space where you can find out the truth.

[00:00:40] And as you'll soon hear, today's question has a lot of myths around it.

[00:00:44] So, let's jump right in, hear today's question as we optimize your life.

[00:00:53] Hi, this is Kirsten calling from New Mexico.

[00:00:55] I'm a big fan of all the Optimal Health shows, Optimal Living Daily.

[00:01:00] It's great to listen to while I'm driving to and from work.

[00:01:03] My question is for Dr. Neal in Optimal Health Daily.

[00:01:06] And I was wondering if you can talk about the difference between watching your macros and counting calories

[00:01:13] when you're trying to either lose weight or maintain weight.

[00:01:16] It seems that they seem kind of similar to me.

[00:01:19] So if you can discuss that would be great.

[00:01:21] Thank you.

[00:01:23] Thank you for your question, Kirsten.

[00:01:25] Around the same time you asked me this question, another caller asked one very similar.

[00:01:30] So, all the signs were telling me that I needed to address this issue of macros and counting calories sooner rather than later.

[00:01:37] I want to start by saying don't confuse this topic with the macrobiotic diet.

[00:01:42] That's something completely different.

[00:01:44] So, the term macros is actually just an abbreviation for the word macronutrients.

[00:01:49] Now, don't let these big scientific sounding words fool you.

[00:01:53] We just like to sound smart sometimes.

[00:01:55] So, health professionals like to use these fancy words.

[00:01:58] If we break macronutrients down, the word macro or macros is just Greek for large.

[00:02:05] So, the term macronutrients just means large nutrients or basically nutrients we need in large amounts each day.

[00:02:14] And it turns out the nutrients we need in large amounts are the ones you're probably really familiar with.

[00:02:21] Carbohydrates, proteins, and fats.

[00:02:23] So, these three nutrients are the ones we need to consume in large amounts each day.

[00:02:30] Macronutrients.

[00:02:30] In fact, most health agencies recommend that about 50% of your calories each day should come from carbohydrates,

[00:02:37] about 25% from protein, and about 25% from healthy fats.

[00:02:42] Oh, and in case you're wondering, there is such a thing as micronutrients.

[00:02:47] The prefix micro means small.

[00:02:49] So, these are nutrients we need in small amounts each day.

[00:02:52] These would be your vitamins and minerals.

[00:02:54] And for those that really want to sound fancy, you may call them electrolytes.

[00:02:58] It all means the same thing.

[00:03:00] Okay, so when someone says, I'm counting my macros,

[00:03:04] that just means that they're tracking what percentage of their calories come from the three macronutrients.

[00:03:10] Carbohydrates, proteins, and fats.

[00:03:12] So, back to your question, Kirsten.

[00:03:14] If you were to track your macros, is that basically the same thing as tracking your calories?

[00:03:20] Well, here's why, to me, it's essentially the same thing.

[00:03:23] Let's use carbohydrates as an example.

[00:03:26] When we look at how many calories come from most carbohydrate-rich foods,

[00:03:30] we find that, on average, they contain about four calories per gram.

[00:03:35] Now, let's try and make sense of this.

[00:03:37] Imagine a food that's high in carbohydrates.

[00:03:40] Take bread, for example.

[00:03:41] Imagine, you had a slice of bread sitting in front of you,

[00:03:44] and you pulled off a piece that measured one gram exactly.

[00:03:48] If you can't picture this, I don't blame you.

[00:03:50] We're not used to the metric system in the US.

[00:03:52] So, I'll help you out.

[00:03:54] It would basically be a small corner off of that slice of bread.

[00:03:58] So, in that small corner, or in that one gram that you just tore off,

[00:04:03] we say that it would contain about four calories.

[00:04:06] So, if you were to imagine that whole slice of bread now,

[00:04:09] remember, we just tore off one little gram.

[00:04:12] If we were to use this same rule of four calories per gram,

[00:04:17] we could estimate that in that entire slice of bread,

[00:04:20] it would contain about 90 to 100 calories.

[00:04:23] This is because most slices of bread contain about 15 grams of carbohydrate.

[00:04:30] So, I just did some simple math.

[00:04:32] Most slices of bread nowadays are about 25 grams.

[00:04:36] So, four times 25, about 100 calories.

[00:04:40] Now, you could use the same rule for any carbohydrate-rich food.

[00:04:43] Let's use potatoes as an example.

[00:04:46] If you had one gram of, let's say, mashed potatoes sitting in front of you,

[00:04:50] again, that wouldn't be much.

[00:04:51] We could estimate that there are four calories in that one gram mound of mashed potatoes.

[00:04:58] What we found is that we can use the same rule for other macronutrients.

[00:05:02] Protein-rich foods, for example, also contain about four calories per gram.

[00:05:06] So, let's say you had one gram of steak on your plate in front of you.

[00:05:11] It would be basically like this tiny little square.

[00:05:13] That one gram of steak would contain about four calories.

[00:05:17] Fat, like oils, are calorie-rich.

[00:05:20] So, the rule with fats is they have nine calories per gram.

[00:05:24] So, if you have one gram of oil, which again isn't much,

[00:05:28] we could estimate that it contains about nine calories in it.

[00:05:31] So, let me try and give you a real-life example

[00:05:33] to help explain why, to me, counting macros is similar to counting calories.

[00:05:38] Remember how I said fat contains nine calories per gram on average?

[00:05:42] It contains more than twice as many calories as carbs and protein.

[00:05:45] It was for this very reason that in the 1980s, low-fat diets were all the rage.

[00:05:52] Why?

[00:05:53] Well, the thinking was that if you cut back on the most calorie-laden nutrient, fat,

[00:05:58] you would automatically cut your total calorie intake for the day.

[00:06:01] Basically, each time you avoided fat, you would save yourself nine calories per gram.

[00:06:07] And that adds up fast.

[00:06:09] Imagine, if you avoid 10 grams of fat today,

[00:06:13] you would save yourself, did you do the math already in your head?

[00:06:16] You guessed it, 90 calories.

[00:06:18] Saving yourself 90 calories per day, just by skipping the oil-based salad dressing, let's say,

[00:06:24] would add up fast and could lead to weight loss if followed consistently over time.

[00:06:29] So, by simply going on a low-fat diet, folks were basically watching how much of one macronutrient,

[00:06:36] fat, they were consuming.

[00:06:38] To put it another way, they were counting macros.

[00:06:41] They just focused their attention on one macro, fat.

[00:06:45] So, by counting all of your macros, not just fat, but carbs and protein as well,

[00:06:49] you basically end up counting calories.

[00:06:52] Oh, and P.S. The low-fat diet craze in the 1980s didn't work so well.

[00:06:56] Avoiding fat left people really hungry,

[00:06:59] and many ended up substituting carbohydrates for fat in their diet because they were so hungry,

[00:07:04] which led to an increase in cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes.

[00:07:12] Thank you again for the question, Kirsten.

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[00:07:55] All right, that's another Q&A edition of Optimal Health Daily.

[00:07:58] Thank you for listening every day.

[00:08:00] Thank you for listening all the way through.

[00:08:02] Thank you for sending in your questions.

[00:08:03] And I hope you have a great start to your weekend.

[00:08:05] And I'll see you back here tomorrow, where your optimal life awaits.